


window seat

by immaturesoybean



Series: graduation [1]
Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Domestic, Established Relationship, Everyone Loves Okumura Eiji, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, M/M, POV Outsider, School Life, Student Council President Okumura Eiji, Vignettes, happiness only in this house
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:47:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26835424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/immaturesoybean/pseuds/immaturesoybean
Summary: "Okumura Eiji was a weird one, she had decided. He was kind and sweet, yet distant and eerily calm. He looked innocent and naive upon first glance, but strangely mature and worldly in his gaze — easily mistaken for a middle schooler, but his eyes holding a story those twice his age could not tell.He was gentle and carefree, yet sometimes he would blink or pause and something about him looked indescribably lonely."Or: Ash and Eiji, from the perspective of a high school girl
Relationships: Ash Lynx/Okumura Eiji
Series: graduation [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1979236
Comments: 52
Kudos: 218





	1. the boy i sit next to in class

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so I said that I wouldn’t be writing anything again but a month later I watched the ending of bf again with my friends and got upset so here I am with feelings ugh  
> I'm a huge sucker for highschool AU and outsider POV so I smushed it together to create the most self-indulgent thing in the history of ever oops  
> (really, it’s just a love letter to eiji, because I think he deserves one)

Komazawa Mayuko was repeating her second year of highschool at a new school, when she met someone in the same situation as her. That in of itself already seemed like a one-in-a-million chance, but what's more was that he sat right next to her in class. 

Okumura Eiji was a returnee, having spent a year abroad in America as an exchange student after his first year, but only just coming back to repeat his second year in Japan after something had happened in America. He'd introduced himself unabashedly, joking about how he was a year older and deserved the respect of an older brother. 

While the other students had laughed, Mayuko felt slightly touched. If anything, he immediately had earned _her_ respect. Despite repeating a year, he was unashamed and open, it made her feel okay to be okay with herself.

Plus, he was actually ridiculously nice. When he sat down, he looked at her and smiled and everything. Textbook politeness, effortless congeniality. That was about it though.

The first few days of school passed and Okumura was positively ordinary, Mayuko remembered thinking. Honestly, the average person would agree with her upon first glance. He had a clean, youthful face — big eyes and round features, with a mop of unruly hair that looked like it had been teased repeatedly or just wouldn’t flatten at all. Good-looking in a tame, comforting way. Nothing bad, but nothing special.

At least, that's what she thought, until the first PE lesson of the year came around. Mayuko handed in her slip to the teacher and sat on the steps off to the side of the field. The concrete had not yet been warmed by the morning sun and the coldness seeping into the back of her thighs felt like a reminder of sorts. She thought about her knee, about pain and about missing out. Things were just starting to sink in, watching all the other kids stretch and run and — 

"Can I sit here?"

She looked up and Okumura was standing there with a gentle smile on his face. He was still in his uniform shirt and pants, he hadn't changed into a jersey either.

"Sure?" She replied, half in a daze but still managing to gesture grandly at the spot next to her. He chuckled before squatting and sitting himself down.

"I guess we're like the grandparents of the class, aren't we?" He grinned, turning to face her slightly.

She snorted. "Yeah, the old and the crippled."

He laughed. “That sounds about right.” She froze.

"Wait...you too?" She said slowly, realising the implications of her words, "Are you…injured?"

He gestured at his ankle, hands wiggling about comically as he attempted jazz hands.

"I used to pole vault." His grin turned lopsided, "I went to America because of it, actually. It was supposed to be this great opportunity at a school with a fancy schmancy athletics program, and—"

He took a deep breath.

"I guess my ankle was already hurting beforehand, but I ignored it. I went to New York and I pushed myself to my limit and...I guess that's it, I reached hit that limit and I can't go further, ever again."

She nodded in silence. Somehow she understood.

"I used to...uh, I used to figure skate." She choked out, it felt weird saying it in past tense. He turned to her, an impressed look crossing his face, "I was just qualifying for senior competitions, so I missed a lot of school to practice and I did everything I could but...I fell, like pretty hard. And that was that, it was all over."

He let out a pensive hum.

"It's funny how it all ends so quickly, huh." He said lightly, there was an underlying melancholy to his voice, but his face remained peaceful, "We both used to be able to fly, and now we're just sitting on the concrete watching other kids play soccer and being crap at it."

She laughed at that. It _was_ funny, how something could be your life one day, and nothing the next. Okumura seemed to hold much more to him than she had first thought. The sun came out from behind the clouds and dappled his face with its warm incandescence, and suddenly she could imagine him flying in the air, body curving over a thin bar with a look of exhilaration on his face. She wished she could have seen it.

"Do you regret going?" She asked, after a minute. "To America, I mean."

He smiled and there was a certain brilliance about his eyes, dark as they were.

"No, never." He sounded final.

***

Okumura Eiji was a weird one, she had decided. He was kind and sweet, yet distant and eerily calm. He looked innocent and naive upon first glance, but strangely mature and worldly in his gaze — easily mistaken for a middle schooler, but his eyes holding a story those twice his age could not tell. 

He was gentle and carefree, yet sometimes he would blink or pause and something about him looked indescribably lonely.

Needless to say, she was curious.

Over the course of their first year at a new school, she found herself gravitating towards Okumura. They’d both joined the student council, shared notes when the other fell asleep in class, ate lunch together occasionally — friend stuff, Mayuko guessed. Sometimes he would talk about his time in New York, he mentioned some friends, some bullies, a frenemy as well. It all sounded like an American high school drama, so different from the life they led here. Though in his short yet eventful anecdotes, it was the name ‘Ash’ that came up the most.

“He was in the year below me but we ended up hanging out in the same friend group, you know he's actually two years younger than us? He skipped a grade and he's so smart, he figures everything out in a glance, and he's good at everything too." He would gush and ramble, "He'd come watch me pole vault, and even after I got injured we'd hang out after school and he'd help me with my English—" It would go on and on. Okumura was kind of a dork, Mayuko thought it was endearing.

"Do you guys still talk a lot?" She remembered asking.

He had taken a deep breath and looked down sadly, "We haven't talked since I left, I don't know what he's up to, or if he's even okay."

In spite of the cloud of frustration that passed his face, the fondness in Okumura's voice was as clear as day. Yet even in all the joy and affection, something gritty and sorrowful underlay his tone, like the American dream grasped and lost in one go.

Everything else that had happened in New York, though, seemed to be a bit of a secret. 

It was a few weeks before summer vacation that Okumura suddenly missed a day of school. And then another, and another, and so on. This came as a shock to everyone, as a member of the student council and a ridiculously hard worker, it was strange to see a day without the soft-haired boy and his amiable smile.

Mayuko recalled an incident from a few days ago. It had been in the middle of a student council meeting after-school when Okumura got a call. Usually, he would decline and call them back at the end of the meeting, but the name 'Ibe-san' had flashed on the screen and Okumura's hand wavered slightly before grabbing the phone and excusing himself from the room.

He didn't end up coming back.

The meeting came to an awkward end so the rest of the members milled out and went their own way for the day. Mayuko had to go back to the classroom for a textbook she forgot, but Okumura was not there either. He'd left a few books and a pencil on his desk too, scattered haphazardly on the table in a manner uncharacteristic of him.

Slightly worried, she looked out the window to see Okumura pacing around in the yard with his phone to his ear, his other hand fisted in his hair. She couldn't see his face clearly, but he looked distressed. She debated going down to ask him what was wrong, but he stopped abruptly, yelled something into the phone and ran out to the front gates.

That was the day before he stopped coming to school.

Mayuko didn't see him again before summer vacation, but on the last day of the term she received a Line message, even though her previous one (' _Okumura-kun_ , _are you okay?')_ had gone unanswered.

_'Hey, Komazawa-_ san _, sorry to ask this of you but is there any way you could send me your Japanese history notes from the past week? I’ve got a lot to catch up on (´∀｀；)_  
 _If you're wondering, I've been in America! I know it was a bit sudden and I'm sorry I ran out on you guys, but I had some really important things to deal with.  
_ _Please apologize to the council and everyone for me, I swear I'll make it up by working 100x harder when I get back! (*•̀ᴗ•́*)و ̑̑ '_

She let out a deep sigh of relief. At least he was alive, although he was still a total nerd. Nevertheless, she sent pictures of her hastily scribbled notes with little Sanrio characters doodled in the margins, (he would have to deal since she was doing him a favour).

She didn't hear from him over summer vacation, but she was looking forward to him coming back to school and hearing the stories he would tell from his impromptu trip to America, he hadn't seemed like the spontaneous type after all.

When he did come back though, he didn't come back by himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry if i bored you to death, this really was just an introductory chapter so apologies for the lack of ash  
> (he will be here soon tho c: , i'll update sometime next week) 
> 
> in the mean time, follow me on [twt](https://twitter.com/mayoaant)  
> (or don't, maybe you're better of not doing that)


	2. the boy and his friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The devil works hard, but Okumura Eiji works harder.
> 
> (Or does he?)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus begins the headcanon dump

There was a new student in class 1-C. The students came back from summer vacation with newly permed hair and baseball tans, settling back into the classroom reluctantly as their motivation had dissipated with the autumn heat— but alongside their homeroom teacher welcoming them back for months of arduous study, there stood a blond haired stranger, writing his name in crude katakana on the blackboard.

_ Aslan Callenreese _

The class was in uproar. Maybe the whole school was, even. The new student was not only American born and bred, but he was also handsome, like ridiculously so. At least that was what Mayuko had heard — for almost the whole first week back it was the only thing anyone would talk about, after all. 

Kitamura Yuuko, who sat in front of her, would turn around after every class with a new rumour to share. He was apparently anywhere between 170 centimetres to two metres tall, somehow both angelic and sexy, smelt like mint or honey — or apples, cinnamon, vanilla, et cetera. Mayuko started to think about ice-cream flavours rather than a person. 

Okumura on the other hand, did not engage in this kind of conversation, immediately becoming peacefully reticent every time the topic inevitably came back into circulation. He did, however, have a pure, serene smile that just would not leave his face. In the weeks following summer vacation, Okumura was undoubtedly in a good mood, not even a single wrinkle of frustration or annoyance would cross his face.

He disappeared a lot around lunch time, but when she managed to ask about America, he beamed. He talked about flying back to New York, looking for old friends, finding them, and going on a bit of an adventure. While he avoided going into detail and skirted around specifics, in Mayuko’s opinion, he didn’t seem so lonely anymore.

***

It was a Friday afternoon when Mayuko was rostered for cleaning duty with Okumura. The rest of their classmates had dashed out of the door as soon as they were dismissed, probably for karaoke and club activities or other follies of youth. Okumura had gone to the broom closet to fetch the cleaning supplies when the door to the classroom slid open.

"Um...is Eiji here?"

There in the doorway stood a tall, blond boy with piercing green eyes. Mayuko almost dropped the water bottle she was trying to unscrew the lid of. Was this the famous transfer student? She had thought the rumours of his beauty were exaggerating, but staring at him face to face, she realised that they were hardly hyperbolic. The light caught on the golden strands of hair that hung in front of his eyes, simultaneously highlighting his elevated cheekbones and the tip of his up-turned nose. He looked sort of ethereal.

In the end she didn't get to answer, as Okumura suddenly appeared from behind him, with two brooms tucked under his arm.

"Ash!" He exclaimed joyfully. He then used his free hand to guide the blond boy into the classroom by the small of his back, before walking over to Mayuko and passing her a broom.

"Komazawa-san," He said almost breathlessly, "This is my friend Ash, I think I might have mentioned him before, but he just moved here and he's in the year below us now."

Hold up. So, this ‘Ash’, the one Okumura had so fondly gushed about every second lunch time, was also ‘Aslan’, the new transfer student? Mayuko’s neurons never were the best at firing, but it may have been an understatement to say she was confused.

Wiping the dumbfounded expression off her face, she opted for a safe introduction, "I'm Komazawa Mayuko." She said almost robotically, trying not to let her frazzled brain cells take control of her body. She even dipped her head slightly out of habit, even though this boy was a year — no, two years— younger than her. Ash's eyes flitted to Okumura for a second before returning the gesture hastily.

"Nice to meet you, K-Ko— " He replied in slow but articulate Japanese, though he started to stumble on her last name. Mayuko couldn't help but find that a bit endearing.

"You can call me Mayu, if you want!" She chuckled lightly, somehow feeling vindicated that he was mirroring her awkwardness. Ash looked kind of relieved but Okumura pouted, looking rather childlike for a second.

"Remember to add a -senpai to that! You're still a little brat, you know," He said pointing a finger at Ash with a chastising tone.

"Sure, sure,  _ big brother. _ " Ash replied lazily, slinging an arm over Okumura's shoulder. Okumura nudged him in the side but didn't attempt to move away.

Mayuko was starting to feel weirdly flustered in their presence. She hastily grabbed her broom and began sweeping.

***

Somehow her first meeting with Ash in the classroom had led to Mayuko becoming on a first name basis with Okumura. Wait, no. With  _ Eiji. _ Ash had made an off-handed comment about how it was weird to hear others refer to him as 'Okumura- _ kun _ ' all the time, and she guessed it made sense since everyone would have called him by his first name in America. The two really were close, almost attached at the hip if it weren’t for the difference in year level. She supposed they must have been, considering that Ash came all the way over from America to be here.

Ash’s Japanese really was impressive though, and not even impressive in the way middle-aged ladies will compliment every pale-skinned, blonde-haired foreigner who can say ‘ _ konnichiwa _ ’ and introduce themselves. His vocabulary and grammar was extensive, especially for someone who had apparently been learning for less than a year. 

Eiji said that he had taught him casually in America, just 'here and there' at lunch times when they were bored or after-school as they lay on the grass and watched the clouds, but he assured her that they had done an ‘intense language learning course’ over summer vacation. Still, his fluency was mind-boggling and it made Mayuko just a little bit angry. She had been learning English for her whole schooling life and had even been overseas multiple times for competitions and things, and yet to be so easily bested by a good-looking American who had learned Japanese while cloud watching, for god's sake!

Despite Eiji's vehement insistence on his teaching skills, something made her start to question just how intensive this Japanese learning course had really been.

One afternoon, Eiji was called to the staff room over the loud speaker.

He stood up immediately, shutting his notebook in a hurry and walking briskly out of the open door. As he rushed out of the classroom, a small piece of paper fluttered out of his school diary and landed on the ground. Mayuko bent over to pick it up, it was a glossy strip of paper with four photos printed in a vertical grid.  _ Oh.  _ Mayuko almost had to stop herself from laughing out loud in disbelief.

She recognised the figures in these photos immediately. They were none other than Ash and Eiji, with unnaturally airbrushed skin and enlarged eyes.  _ Purikura. _ 'Intensive language learning course' her ass, if anything, they had been engaging in a Japanese highschool girl immersion program. 

Ash looked positively out of his comfort zone in the first photo. One hand was bent awkwardly into a half-formed peace sign, while his expression looked oddly panicked as his face was turned to Eiji in a silent call for help. Eiji, on the other hand, was beaming almost mischievously, a confident 'V' formed by his fingers with his other arm looped around Ash's neck.

The second and third photos looked like storyboard frames, the former featuring Eiji using both hands to pull Ash's cheeks into a borderline terrifying smile. The latter looked like instant karma, Ash had obviously retaliated and pulled Eiji into a headlock, an expression of victory crossing his face.

The fourth photo, though, felt like a precious moment captured in time. Both boys were doubled over in laughter, no doubt from their antics in the first three photos. Ash's lips were pulled back genuinely this time, into a bright, open-mouthed smile; Eiji's cheeks were pink and flushed with warmth, both resting an arm against the other for support as they laughed in blissful enrapturement. They'd probably forgotten all about the camera counting down the seconds and snapping a photo. 

It looked like one of those candids, the ones they took at weddings, but somehow just a little more lively and organic in a way that squeezed the heart. 

Eiji walked back into the room then, looking slightly relieved as he made his way back to his desk.

"Looks like I wasn't in trouble for any—" He stopped abruptly as he saw the piece of paper in her hand.

Mayuko held it up to her face and grinned as hard as she could.

His face turned redder than the cherry tomatoes he had packed for lunch.

(A week later she happened to see a copy of the same photo grid, except this time it was with Ash, tucked protectively in the back of his clear phone case.)

*** 

The cultural festival that year, just happened to fall smack bang on Halloween. It was just starting to get colder, and students went wild with autumn decorations. Mayuko's class opted for something simple: a photo booth and refreshment stand, after preparations were done, all that was left was to take turns manning the stand and making sure people lined up properly.

The end of Eiji's shift happened to coincide with hers. He wiped a few beads of sweat off his brow with a floral handkerchief ('it's my sister's!') and gestured at the floor below, "Want to check out Ash's class?"

Ash, which was apparently a nickname derived from Aslan, she later found out (not that it made any sense to her though), was starting to die down as the hot topic of the school, yet he still remained an untouchable enigma. Somehow maintaining above average grades in spite of his Japanese, and displaying incredible athletic prowess in PE lessons when he actually participated, he was most definitely the blond-haired, green-eyed fantasy of many love-struck highschoolers.

The only one who seemed to remain generally immune to and unflustered by his mysterious charm was none other than Eiji. In fact, it seemed to be the other way around. She’d seen Ash waiting at the shoe lockers numerous times, wearing a hardened expression and an unapproachable aura, and it was only until Eiji appeared that he melted like butter in a microwave.

She nodded, "Sure, but what are they doing?"

His grin widened with inexplicable glee, "A haunted house."

Mayuko hadn't understood Eiji's excitement until she saw Ash's face. Even in the sea of people crowding the hallway, Ash seemed to spot Eiji from a mile away, making a beeline for the older boy and grasping him frantically by the shoulders. He muttered what Mayuko assumed were a litany of profanities in rapid fire English with a mixture of rage and fear twisting his expression. Eiji just laughed.

In that moment, Mayuko sort of feared Eiji.

Ash was dressed as a zombie doctor, donning a tattered lab coat with red paint splattered over it to look like over saturated blood stains. His face was painted with stitches and scars to give off a Frankenstein’s monster-esque look and a pair of cracked, but fake, glasses to complete the 'costume'. He still looked good and Mayuko hated him for it, though his wild and unkempt disposition was certainly a fall from grace.

Still laughing, Eiji pushed a blustering Ash back to his post at the table, the blond boy looked just about ready to bolt and jump out of the window.

They caught a glimpse of the table where Ash was supposed to be on shift, apparently they needed him to be in full view of the crowd to attract more customers.

The modest folding table was covered in a dark purple cloth, furnished with a plastic looking human skull and various other Halloween paraphernalia that looked tacky at worst and cute at best. The other person on duty was a flustered looking girl in a bloody nurse's outfit, probably to complete the set designed to lure in more visitors. Hanging above the table though, was a giant cardboard cutout jack-o'-lantern with the class number painted on it in dripping font. As soon as Eiji saw it, he completely lost it. He hadn't finished giggling at Ash's panic from before, but now he was in complete hysterics, tears leaked out from the sides of his eyes as he clutched Ash for support with one hand and clasped the other around his stomach as he laughed full throatedly.

Nobody else in the hallway seemed to know what was going on, Mayuko included. Ash seemed to be yelling something along the lines of ‘I’m suffering, Eiji!’ while the other boy was one breath away from choking on his laughter.

The girl in the nurse outfit had an expression of disillusionment growing on her face. “Callenreese- _ kun _ always seemed so cool and collected, I was not expecting this…” She muttered to no one in particular, before looking up at Mayuko with tired eyes, “Senpai? Do you want to go in?”

Mayuko looked at Ash and Eiji, still making a bit of a scene in front of the table, and considered for a moment.

“Yeah, all three of us, please.” She grinned.

***

Before she knew it, her second second year at high school was nearing its final term. She had initially worked hard to join the student council because her mother said it would be beneficial for university applications and job resumes and whatnot, and apparently because she now had ‘too much time on her hands’ without skating practice. Eiji, on the other hand, did it out of genuine passion, so it was no surprise that he was voted as the student body president for their final year.

Mayuko felt lucky that fate had her sat right next to the school's future golden boy at the start of the year, grateful even. Becoming friends with Eiji made the year she had been dreading somewhat easier, even if he hadn't meant to help.

Before a student council meeting one afternoon, Eiji had told her not to wait up and go to the meeting first, that he would catch up in a second. But even after all the members had assembled, Eiji still had not appeared— he was uncharacteristically late. Mayuko was given the task of fetching the president and trudged back to find him in a huff. She went to check the classroom and decided that next time he told her not to wait up, she would blow a raspberry at him.

Her hand hovered over the groove in the door as she peered through the window. Eiji was sitting at his desk, bag on his lap as he slid a few notebooks inside. His blond friend, Ash, was standing in front of his desk, hands in his pockets swaying in casual conversation with the other boy. She couldn't make out what they were saying, yet the atmosphere felt weirdly intimate. It now seemed rude to intrude so she stood there, planning to walk in once Ash stopped talking.

Then it all happened in a bit of a blur.

Eiji let out a laugh. Ash's eyes softened.

The blond boy propped his hand against Eiji’s desk, and leant forward. Forward, forward, forward. Eiji didn't move away, instead he lifted his head to meet him in the middle.

And then everything clicked. 

Oh.

_ Oh. _ It all made sense now. Ash brought his other hand forward to cup Eiji's cheek, the older boy seemed to lean into it. Sunlight peeked through the open window, catching onto Ash's hair, turning little strands into a brilliant white and tinting both their faces with gold. The moment was soft, quiet, tender and just a little bit enchanting, like the way movies are. Dust turned to glitter in the afternoon sun, the window in the door framed them perfectly— the cinematographer would be out of the job for this one. 

She couldn't fully see either of their faces, but Mayuko knew for a fact that opening the door now would most definitely be intruding.

Forgetting what she had come for in the first place, she hastily scurried back to the student council room. As she slid open the door, the students looked up at her with questioning eyes.

Oh, right.

She'd forgotten to bring the president.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to post this on halloween just to torture ash, but I got ahead of myself
> 
> also, I won't be going into detail about what happened to ash and eiji in america because 1) im here for happy vibes only and I don't feel like reframing everything in a highschool setting just for the sake of it, and 2) i can't write conflict to save my life.  
> just imagine it as a watered down version of the events of bf, except when ash disappears this time, eiji finds him 😌
> 
> see y'all next week <3


	3. the boy and his (boy)friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What’s a student council without some family bonding?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think my obsession with Eiji is showing-  
> (more than anything though, I just want him to get all the love and appreciation he deserves)

Third year of high school was starting to feel like a drag. Mayuko woke up everyday wondering what the point of it all was, when she had devoted her whole life to one thing before and it had led to nothing but pain and frustration. 

She had barely managed to pull herself together as a second year on her second try, there was no way she was getting into any of the MARCH universities like her mother had decided was the next goal for her. Everyday felt like an overwhelming anticlimax, sometimes like she was watching fireworks through a soundproof screen, sometimes like she was drowning in mediocrity. 

Since Ash came, Mayuko had hardly seen Eiji at lunchtimes. Even though they were still in the same homeroom this year, they no longer sat next to each other in class and only really chatted during breaks and in meetings. It felt strange to look over expecting to see him, either taking notes diligently or goofing off by drawing on erasers or passing notes to her, but being met with someone entirely different. As vulnerable as it made her feel, she had to admit that she missed his comforting presence.

One morning, Mayuko fell asleep in second period Japanese history and awoke to Eiji's smiling face. She would have jumped straight out of her seat if her senses had not been dulled from her impromptu nap.

"Mayu, I accidentally made extra lunch today," He said casually, looking radiant from this angle as her head was still resting on the desk, "Want to eat with me and Ash?"

He was so bright. She nodded in a daze, and decided that Okumura Eiji really was a bit special.

Their lunch spot was in a secluded area behind a building in the courtyard. Ash was already there, asleep with a book lying flat on his face— he’d probably skipped class. With no hesitation whatsoever, Eiji walked over and kicked him straight in the stomach to wake him up. Maybe Mayuko was right to be frightened of him.

Ash sat up groggily, eyes cycling through every human emotion in a millisecond before relaxing as Eiji sat down next to him. He looked up at Mayuko and gave her a sleepy nod as greeting before taking the lunch box Eiji handed to him. Eiji waved her over and patted the ground next to him, so she shuffled across and sat down, resisting the urge to sit in on her heels in _seiza_ and mirroring their casual positions instead.

Eiji passed her a lunch box with two hands, “I noticed you haven’t been bringing much food to school lately, you’re still growing, so eat up!” 

So this was why. Mayuko felt like she was supposed to feel patronised, but instead her whole body was overcome with warmth, the fuzzy kind, filling her up from the toes. She’d never met anyone like Okumura Eiji.

She thanked him quietly and plucked open the lid. Looking back up at her were pieces of inarizushi with little circles of cheese and seaweed carefully cut and layered on top to look like the face of a cartoon bear, little sausages cut into octopi, egg rolls, cherry tomatoes, grilled okra, and a little bit of roasted pumpkin. Suddenly overwhelmed with emotion, Mayuko was close to bursting into tears.

“You made this?” She looked up at Eiji in incredulity, trying to keep her lower lip from wobbling as heat filled her cheeks.

He laughed warmly, rubbing the back of his neck, “I’ve been practicing a lot, it’s fun experimenting with all the side dishes.”

Ash took out his chopsticks and put his hands together in silent thanks before digging in, though she noticed that the first thing he did was stealthily pass the piece of pumpkin into Eiji’s bento.

“He’d make a good housewife, don’t you think?” He said in between bites.

Eiji smacked him lightly on the shoulder. Mayuko took a bite and hummed in agreement, “So when are you two getting married?”

The egg roll fell out of Ash’s mouth. Eiji dropped his chopsticks.

Mayuko laughed.

In between their spluttering excuses and sweet mouthfuls of homemade lunch, Mayuko felt something akin to happiness bubbling within her. She thanked Eiji for the meal, and silently thanked him again for his keen distress signal radar. 

As the two boys scrambled and stuttered like children caught up in an obvious lie, Mayuko had to bite her lip to stop the overwhelming fondness from spilling out. She thought about family, and thought that perhaps this is what a real one would feel like.

In the end, they gave up trying to claim the ‘just friends’ card, and made her promise not to tell anyone— not that she was planning on it anyway.

(But also as if it weren't already obvious.)

***

One particularly hot Friday afternoon, the air conditioning in the student council room was broken, but the meeting was urgent for events that would take place the following week, and there was a lot of paperwork to be done too. They sat there dazedly in pools of their own sweat, trying to pay attention but failing miserably. In the end, Eiji clapped his hands together and called it a day, there was no progress to be made in Satan’s armpit.

“How about we all meet up at my house tomorrow?” He proposed instead, “My parents are taking my sister to look at potential high schools, so the place will be free for the day!”

Everyone perked up at that. A visit to the president’s house? No one wanted to pass up the opportunity of finding out his personal life first hand. Was he extraordinarily rich? Did he live in a fancy, Western-style mansion? Or one of those huge, sprawling traditional houses with a zen garden and fifty tatami rooms? They all wanted to know.

“I-If it’s no trouble to you, that would be great…” The vice-president, Horiuchi Kanae, said shyly, twisting a lock of dark hair around her finger.

“It’s decided then!” Eiji smiled brightly, “Come at around 1pm, I’ll text you all my address, it’s not far from the school so I hope you can all make it.”

Naturally, everyone was able to make it. Though the Okumura Family residence was hardly the physical manifestation of architectural fantasy that everyone had constructed in their minds, but in fact a homely, white townhouse with a potted plant hanging from the front gate and a cute little doormat. 

The five of them all managed to arrive at 1pm on the dot and rang the doorbell. Eiji opened the gate and led them through the door with the excitement of an elementary schooler inviting his friends over for a playdate. As they all crammed into the entrance and took their shoes off, Mayuko couldn’t help but admire the little family photos hanging from the walls and propped up, framed on the shoe cabinet. Eiji’s little sister bore strong resemblance to him, with her bushy eyebrows and cheeky demeanour, Mayuko made a mental note to tease him about it later.

The student council settled in the dining room, where Eiji had combined two tables to match the length of the one at school. 

“It feels weird seeing you all here in my own house,” He chuckled, pulling out his papers and starting the meeting.

The next half hour or so was fairly productive, while it was still warm outside, nothing could have compared to the sub-Saharan heats of the student council room the day before. Then there was a creak from the stairwell, and the sound of light footsteps. Everyone turned to stare at the blond boy standing halfway down the staircase, he stared right back.

“Good _afternoon_.” Eiji called out to him sardonically. Snapping out of the awkward staring contest with the student council, Ash grunted and gave him the finger, making his way down the rest of the stairs and grabbing the milk out of the fridge.

“C-Callenreese- _kun_ is staying with you?” A second year stuttered, looking at Eiji with shell-shocked eyes. 

He tilted his head to the side owlishly, "Yes?" was all he had to say to that before he walked over and grabbed the milk right out of Ash's hands. Everyone watched agape from the dining room table as the two squabbled in the kitchen, Eiji berating Ash for drinking directly from the carton while Ash argued that his 'lactose intolerant ass' didn't have a say. 

Having experienced the full brunt of their domesticity, Mayuko remained relatively unfazed. But to many of the other members, it was like seeing the image of their precious president being warped and distorted, as if the American bad-boy had taken the honour student in his clutches and was filling him with malicious ideas — like soon enough they would find him skipping meetings and smoking behind the gym like a delinquent.

When Eiji sat back down it was clear that productivity had hit a wall, even in the air-conditioned room it was getting warm and everyone was a bit distracted.

“How about I go buy some ice-cream?” She stood up and announced suddenly. Ice-cream was always a good incentive, sometimes Mayuko was smart.

“Great idea!” Eiji seemed to think so too, “There’s a convenience store just around the corner— Actually, Ash, you go with her.”

Ash made a noise that said ‘what?’ through a mouthful of salad. 

Eiji gestured at him impatiently, “You know the way, just walk her there. You need some sun anyway, you look like a ghost!”

“I can’t believe I’m being called a pasty ass bitch first thing in the morning.” Ash muttered defiantly, though he grabbed something off the counter and started walking towards the front door anyway. He really was an obedient puppy on the inside when it came to Eiji.

“Your words, not mine!” Eiji called after him.

Mayuko followed Ash out the door, laughing to herself silently. As they walked out into the sunlight, Ash groaned and threw a hand in front of his face. 

“Too early…” He grumbled under his breath.

It was two in the afternoon at that point. “Are you a vampire?” Mayuko asked, in English, because at that point she could never be too sure. Ash blinked at her in surprise for a second before exhaling lightly through his nose.

“Haven’t disintegrated yet, so it looks like I’m in the clear for now.”

Mayuko nodded like she knew what he meant, deciding that this was the hill she had chosen to die on — she would pretend to be fluent in English if it was the last thing she did. 

As they walked to the convenience store, she looked at Ash. He was facing forward, his profile outlined by the afternoon sun that blazed persistently in the background. Although seeing his foreign features regularly had slowly worn away their novelty, he was still undoubtedly beautiful, and alluringly mysterious. Perhaps indifference was universally attractive; people want to be looked at by people who don’t. This was the first time the two of them had been alone together, and there were so many things she wanted to ask — about his life in America, about his family, about why he was here. But one question seemed to burn through her tongue.

“Did you ever see Eiji pole vault?” 

She was careful not to stumble on her words, digging her hands in front of her as well in a ‘vaulting’ motion just to drive her point across, “What did he look like?”

Ash turned to face her, eyes widening slightly at the sudden question. But as he swiveled his head back to face forward, she could see his eyes gently crinkling at the edges, his lips threatening to curve upwards. In that moment she decided that apathy was ugly, that the facade of coolness, or the intrigue that came with it, was irrelevant — this raw, unguarded look on his face, warm and passionate, was infinitely more lovely.

“Yeah.” His voice was soft and breathy, “I saw him fly. It was— he was—” He looked off to the side, probably to hide the besotted expression growing on his face. “He was beautiful. When I saw him jump, I felt like _I_ was...free. It’s funny, isn’t it? Like, I wasn’t even the one doing it and I felt like all the air had been sucked out of my lungs — like I was soaring.” 

Mayuko stared at the side of his head in awe. This was the first time she’d heard Ash talk so much, so freely, so openly. Maybe it was just the effect Eiji had on people, he didn’t even have to be nearby for it to work.

Suddenly realising her shocked silence, Ash whipped his head around sheepishly.

“I don’t know what came over me just then.” He whispered, looking both lovesick and mortified.

“I think it was your heart.”

Perhaps she sounded extra blunt in English, because he immediately buried his face in his hands. Mayuko let out a laugh and patted him on the back.

_The good old Okumura Effect._

***

They made a beeline for the freezer as soon as they entered the convenience store. The council members had texted her their preferences and she began piling them into her basket.

“Häagen-Dazs for Hori-chan, Coolish for me, Matsumoto wanted a Papico…” Mayuko read out loud to herself in confirmation. “Ash, did you want anything?” She called out to the blond-haired boy that was standing in front of all the different brands of tea and checking his phone. He opened his mouth to decline but then stopped and looked towards the door as if remembering the weather outside.

“Just choose something random for me.” He said dismissively after a few moments of consideration.

She shrugged and chucked a suika bar into the basket before lining up at the counter. But when it was her turn the pay, Ash stepped in, shoving a 5000 yen note in place of her hand. The cashier gave him a quick up and down in surprise before taking the note and bowing. 

“Wait, why are you paying?” She furrowed her eyebrows as he grabbed the change from the tray. 

“Chivalry isn’t dead?” He replied, though it sounded like a question. He took one of the bags of ice-cream from the counter and shoved the other hand in his pocket, walking away from her.

“Seriously though, why did you do that, I had enough!” She pestered, running up to him and smacking him on the back as they walked out of the store.

“Let’s just say I’m rich.” He smirked. Then she caught a glimpse of his phone in his left hand, the silly _purikura_ peeking out from under the case. 

_Eiji probably told him to._

She rolled her eyes and let out an amused huff, sticking her hand into the plastic bag and speedily unwrapping an ice-pop.

“Ash!” She elbowed him petulantly.

He turned with his mouth open, in the midst of forming a ‘what’, when she stuck the watermelon-shaped ice-stick into his gaping maw. He let out a muffled screech as the cold, triangular sweet was shoved between his teeth, reaching out furiously to grab her in retaliation. She dodged, cackling, and began to sprint away from him.

“Hurry up or it will all melt before we get back!” She flipped around to wag a finger at him tauntingly, “If it melts, I’m telling Eiji on you!”

Ash suddenly dashed forward at an inhuman speed and wrangled her into a half-hearted headlock. She burst into a fit of surprised laughter against his shoulder.

“Don’t you dare!” 

***

Stuffed with cold treats, the student council was satisfied, speeding through paperwork and engaging in productive discussion. 

“Good job everyone!” Eiji exclaimed, “I think we’ve pretty much gotten through all the main things on our list, only some minor tasks left to do after this.”

“Does that mean we get to take a break?” Mayuko perked up, tapping Eiji on the elbow. “House tour? House tour.” She said waving her index fingers in rapid succession like little drum sticks on an imaginary snare.

Eiji pondered for a moment before relenting, throwing his hands up into the air and waving them towards the hallway. “Oh, why not.”

Horiuchi beamed in delight while the other boys whooped and pumped their fists.

Eiji’s house was actually pretty spacious from the inside, the hallway, with miscellaneous framed pictures hanging from the wall, led to a cozy living area with a few couches and a low coffee table. Off to the side were glass sliding doors that revealed a quaint but primly maintained garden, perhaps not the traditional zen garden with bridges and koi ponds they were expecting, but nevertheless a cheerful area fitting of the Okumura spirit.

He led them back down the corridor and up the stairs, pointing out rooms of the other family members on the second floor but not going inside. There was no mention of a guest room until he pushed open a door and welcomed them into his bedroom. It was pretty ordinary, his bed pushed against the left wall and a desk in the right corner, a floating shelf attached above and a built-in closet in the side wall. Though even in its plainness she noticed small hints of personality— faint traces of blu-tack, likely left over from posters that were taken down, a bookshelf that appeared to be full of more photo albums than actual books, and most obviously, a futon lying rumpled in the middle of the room.

Eiji clicked his tongue in annoyance, “That idiot didn’t even roll it up.” He muttered under his breath, squatting down to fold the futon and stuff it away in the closet. Mayuko felt like she had walked into something private, either Eiji’s bed was really well made or it had been completely untouched.

The student council slowly shuffled in, scanning the room while commenting and poking fun at its nondescript nature. Eiji pouted, though still maintaining the paradigm of hospitality as he opened the door to the ensuite bathroom in case anyone needed to go.

 _Okay_ , maybe she took it back. It was hard to stay unfazed when she started noticing all the little details: a shared cup with two toothbrushes, the wardrobe split in half by two distinct styles, two sets of school uniform hanging from the rack on the back wall.

Again, she had to question how it could be anything less than blatantly obvious.

She looked away and squatted down to poke at the photo albums stacked neatly on the bookshelf. Eiji seemed to notice and let out an embarrassed chuckle.

"I've been dabbling in photography since my injury, they're not very good but you can take a look if you want."

The rest of the members seemed keen to look and crowded around as Mayuko flipped open the first volume.

"You took these?" She gasped, admiring the monochromatic New York scene the first few images he had captured. She mentally cursed at him for being multi-talented.

He nodded shyly, “That album is the first one with photos from my exchange in New York.”

The longer she stared, the more she felt herself being drawn into Eiji's vision. There was something so heartfelt and intimate in his photos, and she thought that this must be the way Eiji saw the world— he found beauty in the dilapidated buildings, heart in the grease and grime, love in the cold and unassuming alleyways. Envy and appreciation swirled in her stomach, perhaps she wanted rose tinted glasses of her own, to suddenly spot the hints of gold in the mud and fog of daily life.

She flipped through the pages, and frame by frame New York was given colour, painted by purple mohawks, blue bomber jackets, yellow hair, green eyes. No matter how mundane or adventurous each picture was, affection overflowed from every corner, and they were so uniquely Eiji that no elaborate signature was needed. 

Horiuchi let out a hum of admiration next to her, so she passed the album in her hands over and picked up a second one from the shelf.

She opened it up and the breath was stolen straight from her lungs. She turned and turned, and it was page upon page, photo upon photo of one person, of Ash. Ash lying on the bleachers, Ash dangling a slice of pizza above his mouth, Ash smiling, Ash frowning; it was all Ash and it was all beautiful.

Somehow, the Ash that stared back at her from the glossy surface was not the one she was used to seeing. The mature and distant enigma was nowhere to be seen in Eiji’s photographs, instead replaced by a boy that was warm and vivid and somehow more _real._

A sharp gasp came from beside her. The members were huddled around Horiuchi as she held up a series of images from the back of the photo album. The photographs showed Eiji, elegantly curved over a horizontal bar, face twisted in concentration; body in flight. _His old pole vaulting photos._

It was like a culmination of everything she’d imagined, but more. The image of him she had constructed on that chilly, Spring morning couldn’t hold a candle to sheer exhilaration emanating from the pictures.

It wasn’t often that a fantasy was trumped by the real thing, much less by a second-hand representation of it.

Eiji let out an embarrassed yell and scrambled to shut the album with his pictures in them, but Mayuko was stuck staring in their direction as if she was in a state of shock. She now understood the wonder on Ash’s face as he’d described Eiji jumping — perhaps this was how Ash saw Eiji all the time, and maybe the photos in her hands were of _Eiji's_ Ash. 

She thought of the way Eiji used bury his mouth in his hand to stop himself from talking about Ash, the way Ash would stare at the back of his phone when he thought no one was looking, the way they would look at each other and it was like the rest of the world had faded into the distance like white noise.

Ash walked into the room then with a popsicle stick hanging lazily out of his mouth. Eiji beamed and shuffled over to him, grabbing at the stick to see if it was a winner. In an instant, the room was warmer, brighter. It made Mayuko’s heart ache with familiarity and sweetness, like Valentine's chocolate melting inside her stomach.

Seeing the two of them separately was just not the same. Mayuko found that she could close the photo album, and when she looked up, the boys from the photos would still be there — with the same vibrant yet untouchable aura. It was not an illusion, but a reality exclusive to two.

She looked back at the photos in her hands. The two boys couldn’t be more different, yet they fit together like lock and key. 

Perhaps it was fate that led Eiji to Ash and Ash to Eiji time and time again, or maybe it was sheer willpower that forced their paths to cross.

Mayuko didn't believe in destiny, but she believed that miracles sometimes do happen. And that one in a million chance of sitting next to Okumura Eiji in second year, was nothing short of a window seat to the spectacle of fate.

Mayuko caught Ash's eye and held up the album in her hands, wiggling her eyebrows.

His eyes flickered with recognition and his hand flew up to his face, though it did nothing to cover his conflicted expression— something that was tangled between embarrassment and elation, but was still undoubtedly a smile.

Eiji seemed to notice and let out a hum of approval.

"That one's my favourite!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that’s a wrap!
> 
> I honestly had a lot of fun writing this but i seriously need to get my priorities in order because I had to physically stop myself from adding more.  
> It's so easy to imagine a world where they met earlier and were allowed to be young and free— I just want that for them with my whole heart and more.
> 
> I was kinda nervous to write a multi-chapter fic for the first time but all your comments made me so happy <3  
> There’s just one more short bonus i want to add to this series but then i think i’m done!
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> [twt](https://twitter.com/mayoaant)   
> 


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